News Organization Joins Motion to Intervene in 9/11 Case

The Radio-Television News Directors Association said it has joined 22 other organizations that want to intervene in a detention case "cloaked in secrecy" that has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. "The media and legal organizations filed the unusual motion to ensure that the First Amendment interests of the media and the public are adequately represented in the proceedings, which to date have been conducted in secret," it stated. Mohammed K. Bellahouel of Florica was detained by the government; he allegedly had contact with three of the Sept. 11 hijackers. "Bellahouel's challenge to the legality of his incarceration was originally kept off the public docket in the U.S. District Court in Miami," RTNDA stated. "Reporters from the Miami Daily Business Review learned about the case when it was inadvertently listed on a public docket in the federal appeals court. Later, the case was docketed, but with 63 of the 65 entries sealed." RTNDA said the Justice Department asked that even its arguments in the case be kept secret. Other petitioners include the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, ABC, CNN, the Washington Post and The New York Times.